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Friday, July 8, 2016

Dallas Suspect Identified - Was He the Only Shooter?

The man who was killed by police this morning has been identified.His name is Michael Xavier Johnson and he is from Dallas.He is not known to be affiliated with any terrorist group.It now appears that reports of a "coordinated" and "triangulated" attack by multiple suspects may have been false. Johnson might have acted alone.From The Los Angeles Times:

Police used a “bomb robot” early Friday to kill a gunman after five police officers were killed and seven others wounded in downtown Dallas during a protest over recent police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, officials said.

“We cornered one suspect and we tried to negotiate for several hours,” Dallas Police Chief David Brown said during a Friday morning news conference, but “negotiations broke down” and turned into “an exchange of gunfire with the suspect.”

The suspect was identified as Micah X. Johnson, 25, a resident of the Dallas area, two U.S. law enforcement officials said.

Johnson had no known criminal history or ties to terror groups, the official said, and has relatives in Mesquite, Texas, which is just east of Dallas.The official said federal agents were assisting Dallas authorities in the investigation.

Brown said a hostage negotiator spoke with the gunman at length before he was killed about 2:30 a.m.. The chief said the attacker said he was upset “with white people” and with recent police shootings. The suspect also said that he was not affiliated with any groups and that he acted alone, Brown said.

These photos were apparently uploaded to Facebook by his sister

“The suspect said we will eventually find the IEDs,” Brown said, a reference to explosives. “He wanted to kill officers. And he expressed killing white people, killing white officers, he expressed anger for Black Lives Matter.”

“We saw no other option than to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension to detonate where the suspect was,” Brown said, adding that, “other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger.”

Brown said reports that the suspect shot himself were incorrect. “The suspect is deceased as a result of detonating the bomb,” he said.

Brown said other suspects were in custody, but declined to say how many. Other officials said three suspects were in custody.

Police believe that the gunman who was killed “did some of the shooting,” but perhaps not all, Brown said, vowing that “of there’s someone out there associated with this, we will find you.”

Police were still investigating Friday, and “we’re working diligently to process the crime scene and find evidence,” Brown said.

“None of that makes sense. None of that is a reason to do harm to anyone,” Brown said, although he would not comment about whether the gunman appeared mentally ill.

No one has commented on the Dallas policemen's gear. Were they wearing bullet-proof vests? The shooter was. I heard a witness describe seeing him suit up, throwing it over his head and fastening it. I also read that bullets popped off him. I heard Mayor Mike Rawlings refer to their 'de-escalation' approach. I've seen cops sent into (I think in Ferguson) volatile confrontations with rioters without riot gear because they didn't want an appearance that would escalate tension. That's pure whack! I couldn't believe they were sent out like that! In their uniforms and caps- no helmets even.I want to ask if these Dallas cops had been wearing riot gear would they have been killed? And even if they are not in riot gear are they always wearing the vests?